Improvement in cultivators



5 UNITED STATES PATENT OEEicE. i

WVILLIAM RHODES AND MOSES PORTER, 4OF LOVINGTON, ILLINOIS.

lMPROVEM ENT IN iCULTIVATORS.

Specification forming part oflLettcrs Patent No. 47,568, dated May 2, 1865; antcdnted April 29, 1865.

To all whom it 'may concern Beit known that we,W1LLIAM RHODES and MOSES PORTER, of Lovington, in the county of Moultrie and State of Illinois, have in vented a certain new and useful Improvement in Gultivators; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accom# panying drawings, making part ot' this speciiication, in which- Figure lis a plan or top view of a cultivator embodying our invention, and Fig. 2 is a vertheir normal relative positions, throw the plows. out of the furrows and thus probably cause the demolishment of the hills and the uprooting of the plants, or at least interfere with the operation oi' the plows by occasional suspensions.

The invention consists in a peculiar manner of varying the line of draft and thus throwi-ng the frame in such position as may be nec essary to adapt the plows to conform to curvatures or sinuosities of the furrows, as hereinafter more particularly explained. i

ln Order that others skilled yin the art to which our invention appertains may be enabled to fully understand and use the same, we will proceed to describe its construction and operation. Y

In the accompanying drawings, A A A represent the various partsof a frame, which in itself may be ot any desirable construction.'

This frame rests upon the axle B at a point between the respective pairs of plows C C C C', the Shanks of which are attached to the frame in customary manner-that is to say,the plows are so arranged that one pair, O G, occupies a position in front ot' and between the plows constituting the remaining pair. The

axle B, together with the wheels D D and the manner ot' bracing the plows,` being common, need no specific description.

movement imparted to it independently of the main body of the machine, the rear-end of said tongue being inserted through an aperture in the axle ofsufcient size horizontally to allow the `tongue to turn therein toany desired extent. .lhe tongue is secured in this receptacle in the axle by means of a pivot orV bolt, c', which extends from the upper to the under side of the axle B and passes through a slot, c, in the tongue E. The slot 'permits the tongue to have longitudinal movement imparted to it4 tachment upon the tongue at a point in the rear of the roller F. Both the bearings of the roller permit it to freely, rotate upon its axis.

The shape of the rear edge of the bar A is that of anarc of a circle in which the roller may be supposed to move.

I:I is a lever, which is fulcrumed upon a bracket, I, secured to the bar A', and connected by a joint, e2, to the tongue E. The driver sitting upon the seat J has full control of this lever H, by which he is enabled to so move the tongue E in a lateral direction as to throw the roller F at any desired point away from the transverse center of the bar A' at either side thereof. The roller F, having been thus caused to assume a position away from the center of the machine, may be placed against and rigidly held in direct contact with the bar A by slightly depressing the free end of the lever H, which imparts a forward movement to the tongue E, the latter carrying with it the roller F. The adaptability of the roller F to rotate will prevent it yfrom presenting any impediment to the turning ot' the. tongue it the said roller should chance to come in contact with the bar A' during this movement.

It is apparent that the changing of the position oi' the roller F produces a correspond- The tongue E is adapted to `have a lateral ing change or variation in the line of draft, inasmuch as the roller,when in contact with the bar A', constitutes the point of action,the draft being transmitted from the tongue to the roller F and not to the axle, as in the ordinary working condition of the parts. Hence the use of the slot o is manifestly to adapt the draft to be shifted from the tongue E to the roller F. The line of draft, being varied in this manner, governs the direction or position in which the frame A A A' moves, and the plows are thus made to operate as well within a curved furrow as in one which preserves a direct course.

The seat J is connected at one end byahinge,

v to a frame, K, which rises from the cultivator-frame A A A', andthe seat rests at a point equidistant from its ends upon a frame, J', also' erected upon the cultivator-fra'me. When the plows are in their workin g condition the driver may sit upon the forward end of the seat J in front of the frame J'. His weight thus contributes to retain the plows in their workingv position. By sitting upon the rear end of the seat J behind the frameJ' his weight will serve to elevate the frame A A A', and thus retain the plows out of contact with the ground. v

Having thus described our invention,the

following is what we claim as new therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The roller F, mounted upon the tongue E, and adapted to move simultaneously therewith, so as to change the line of draft, in the manner and for the purpose herein set forth.

2. The slot e,whereby the draft may be shifted at will from the tongue E to the roller F, in the manner and for the purpose explained.

WILLIAM RHODES. MOSES PORTER. Witnesses:

' O. N. FITCH,

SAMUEL ROBERTS. 

